2) “Muslim” literally means “anyone or anything that submits itself to the will of God”.

3) Islam is not a culture its followers number over 1.9 billion worldwide. Along with Judaism and Christianity, it is considered to be one of the three Abrahamic traditions.

4) There are five pillars of practice in Islam. These practices must be undertaken with the best of effort in order to be considered a true Muslim: A) Shahadah – declaration of faith in the oneness of God and that Muhammad is the last prophet of God. B) Formal prayer five times a day. C) Fasting during the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. D) Poor-due “tax” – 2.5% of one’s savings given to the needy at the end of each year. E) Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, if physically and financially able.

5) There are six articles of faith in Islam. These are the basic beliefs that one must have in order to be considered a true Muslim. They are belief in: A) the One God. B) all the prophets of God. C) the original scriptures revealed to Prophets Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad. D) the angels. E) the Day of Judgment and the Hereafter. F) the divine decree (or destiny).

6) Islam is a complete way of life that governs all facets of life: moral, spiritual, social, political, economical, intellectual, etc.

7) Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. To become Muslim, a person of any race or culture must say a simple statement, the shahadah, that bears witness to the belief in the One God and that Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet of God.

8. “Allah” is an Arabic word that literally means “God”. Muslims also believe that “Allah” is the personal name of God.

9) Allah is not the God of Muslims only. He is the God of all people and all creation. Just because people refer to God using different terms does not mean that they are different gods. Spanish people refer to God as “Dios” and French people refer to God as “Dieu”, yet they are all the same God. Interestingly, most Arab Jews and Arab Christians refer to God as “Allah”. And the word Allah in Arabic appears on the walls of many Arab churches.

10) The Islamic concept of God is that He is loving, merciful, and compassionate. But Islam also teaches that He is just and swift in punishment. Nevertheless, Allah once said to Prophet Muhammad, “My mercy prevails over my wrath.” Islam teaches a balance between fear and hope, protecting one from both complacency and despair.

11) Terrorism, unjustified violence, and the killing of innocent people are absolutely forbidden in Islam. Islam is a way of life that is meant to bring peace to a society, whether its people are Muslim or not. The extreme actions of those who claim to be Muslim may be, among other things, a result of their ignorance or uncontrolled anger. Tyrant rulers and those who commit acts of terrorism in the name of Islam are simply not following Islam. These people are individuals with their own views and political agendas. Fanatical Muslims are no more representative of the true Islamic teachings than Timothy McVeigh or David Koresh are of Christianity. Extremism and fanaticism is a problem that is common to all religious groups.

12) The word “jihad” does not mean “holy war”. Instead, it means the inner struggle that one endures in trying to submit their will to the will of God. Some Muslims may say they are going for “jihad” when fighting in a war to defend themselves or their fellow Muslims, but they only say this because they are conceding that it will be a tremendous struggle. But there are many other forms of jihad which are more relevant to the everyday life of a Muslim such as the daily struggles against self-desire, the struggle against a tyrant ruler or against the temptation of Satan, etc., etc.

13) Women are not oppressed in Islam. Any Muslim man that oppresses a woman is not following true Islam. Among the countless teachings of Prophet Muhammad which protected the rights and dignity of women is his saying, “…the best among you are those who treat their wives well.”

14) Islam grants Muslim women numerous rights in the home and in society. Among them are the right to work and earn money, the right to financial support, the right to an education, the right to an inheritance, the right to being treated kindly, the right to vote and representation on a board, the right to a dowry, the right to keep their maiden name, the right to worship in a mosque, etc.,

15) All Muslims are not Arab. Islam is a universal religion and way of life which includes followers from all races of people. There are Muslims in and from virtually every country in the world. Arabs only constitute about 20% of Muslims worldwide. Indonesia has the largest concentration of Muslims with over 120 million.

ISLAM-OPED is a national syndication service of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) designed to offer an American Muslim perspective on current political, social and religious issues. ISLAM-OPED commentaries are offered free-of-charge to one media outlet in each market area. Permission for publication will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.

[Danette Zaghari-Mask is executive director of the Orlando chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Orlando). CAIR is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. Contact her at: dmask@cair.com For a photo, see: http://www.cair.com/Chapters.aspx#Orlando]

On the anniversary of 9/11, the memory of those once full of life evoke painful thoughts. I cringe at the panic that they must have endured, and join the mourning of fellow Americans who lost loved ones.

Even if we did not know someone directly effected by the tragedy, we know where we were when the towers fell or when the Pentagon was hit.
I delivered my first child 13 days after 9/11. In the days leading up to his birth, I wept.

I wept as a human, as an American and as a Muslim sickened by the reports of militants who claimed “victory” under the banner of Islam.
I gave birth and then cried as a mother for having endured, only to bring a new life into such a troubled world.

Since that time, opportunities have arisen to speak to my fellow Americans about Islam and Muslims. I, like millions of Muslims across the world, stood in solidarity against terrorism and a firm conviction that Islam, by its very definition, rejects terrorism.
Islam is an Arabic word that translates as “peace through submission to God.”

Those who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks did not discriminate between people of different faiths; rather, they discriminated against every person who did not submit to their twisted ideology.

The perpetrators of 9/11, and those with an agenda to silence the moderate Muslim majority, want us all to believe that Islam itself is the instigator of terror. If we can defeat those ideas in our own minds, we can defeat the mesmerizing effect of those who seek interfaith division and discord.

There are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims in the world who overwhelmingly desire peace and look to Islam for inspiration.

I am teaching my son the Quran, the Muslim holy book. He is learning that if someone kills another it is “as though he has slain all mankind, and he who saved one life should be regarded as though he has saved the lives of all mankind” (5:32).

He is learning the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad: “The best jihad is saying a word of truth in the court of an unjust ruler” and a believer is one “in whom all of mankind has a sanctuary for its life and property.”

Today, I have more optimism and more reasons to be hopeful than six years ago.
My son celebrated his birthday early this year with contagious courage and spirit. His smile is so wide I think sometimes it will touch the creases of his brown eyes.

He and all of our children are, after all, the possibility beyond the borderline that creates “us” and “them.” The memory of 9/11 motivates me to raise my son to achieve his full potential.

Our children are seeds of peace and, with the right nurturing, future friends of peace.

A Washington-based U.S. Muslim advocacy group Tuesday condemned a new video in which Osama bin Laden praises a Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist.

Posted on Islamic Web sites, the video does not show bin Laden but has a still photo of the al-Qaida founder and about 14 minutes of bin Laden purportedly talking about one of the hijackers.

Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the hijackings and the suicide airliner attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington six years ago.

“The despicable actions of the 9/11 hijackers should be repudiated by all Muslims, not praised as examples to follow,” a statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. “There can be no moral, ethical or religious justification for such cowardly attacks on innocent civilians. CAIR joins with Americans of all faiths in mourning the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and asks that we all use today’s anniversary to enhance our efforts to repudiate religious extremism and to promote mutual understanding.” (MORE)

(NEW YORK, NY, 9/11/2007) — The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) participated in a moment of silence for the victims of the 9/11 attacks at Sunday’s “Muslim Day Parade” in that city.

Hundreds marched down Madison Avenue to celebrate their commitment to interfaith peace and tolerance. CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif joined Senator Bill Perkins, Councilmember Robert Jackson and other community leaders to address parade attendees.

“CAIR-NY mourns with all Americans over the tragedy at Ground Zero,” said CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza Ali. “We send our sincere condolences to the families of 9/11 victims. Their loved ones will not be forgotten.”

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 33 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Initially, Fawzia Tung didn’t think the attacks on Sept. 11 really affected her life. She was wrong. She soon realized it had a big impact on the way she viewed her religion.

Tung, 50, is a Chinese Muslim living in Phoenix and working for theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations. But it was only after the attacks that Tung unconsciously took her life down a more politically active path.

At the time of the attacks, Tung was a stay-at-home mom to seven children. She felt very free living in the U.S., able to practice her faith openly. She had no qualms about wearing her scarf in public because nobody paid any notice. But things changed the day the four planes crashed.

“Right after it happened, I was terribly conscious I was wearing a scarf,” she said. “I felt like everybody was looking at me.”

Her husband urged her to stay home if she could. He would do the grocery shopping, a monumental offer. For Tung, it was stay home or heed her husband’s advice to go out without her scarf, an option she had never until that moment considered.

“I know a number of friends who took it (the scarf) off right after 9/11,” she said.

Tung was conflicted. She always considered her relationship with Allah a private one. But her scarf became a symbol in the wake of the attacks.

“It was never a social thing before. All of a sudden it became something different,” Tung said.

A woman at a garage sale told Tung she supported her and held no ill will toward Muslims.

She decided to stand tall for her religion. Tung went to work at an Islamic school and later joined the staff at CAIR.

Looking back, Tung believes the social effects of the attacks had a positive influence on her.

“I didn’t do anything particularly Islamic before that,” she said. “I was just living my life.”

—

CAIR: A HIJACKED IDENTITY: MUSLIM AMERICAN REFLECTS ON SEPT. 11 – TOP
National Public Radio, 9/11/07

The events of Sept. 11 changed the lives of many Americans, including American Muslims. Arsalan Iftikhar, a regular contributor, and former representative to the Council on American Islamic Relations, explains how the attacks impacted his work as a spokesman for Muslim Americans in the national media.

Scurrying about my Berkeley apartment six years ago, I was preparing to leave for a journalism conference in Lake Tahoe. I turned on the TV, and noticed morning news programs running footage of the collapsing Twin Towers. On first impulse, I dismissed the coverage as a faraway international disaster.

Soon, reality hit me. Grief over loss of 3,000 innocent lives replaced indifference, and then quickly gave way to fear. I cringed, secretly praying – God, don’t let it be Muslims. Before long, America learned al-Qaida was behind the attacks.

Over the years, I have spent considerable time educating co-workers, friends and strangers about the basic tenets of Islam, its principles of respect, brotherhood, establishment of human rights and peace and justice. However, I have also observed tremendous backlash against all things Muslim.

From prejudice to discrimination to outright hatred, the American Muslim community has been targeted frequently by a minority who view American Muslims as the “other.” In fact, a USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted last year shows strong feelings against Muslims. Nearly 40 percent of the respondents claimed having at least some prejudice toward Muslims. Another estimated 40 percent also favored having Muslims bear special identification to prevent future terror attacks on our soil.

Despite that, there also has been much support and sympathy offered to the Muslim community after 9/11. Japanese Americans, the Latino and African American communities, Christian, Jewish and other faith observers have stood by Muslims during difficult times. They too had personally experienced, or witnessed discrimination and prejudice promoted against various other minorities. Native Americans were driven out of their homeland, Blacks were enslaved and segregated against, and Japanese Americans were interned. As new immigrants, Jews, Asians, Italians and Catholics weren’t treated any better either.

As I write this column, I ponder the post 9/11 world we live in. I think about the irrational fear that has gripped us and impacts our judgment. The continued civil rights violations and the controversial Patriot Act, the aggressive call for profiling of Muslims and Arabs at airports and other places, the misadventure in Iraq, and the political turmoil the Bush Administration is embroiled in are all examples of this fear.

We proudly claim how 9/11 has not changed us or our values. Let us look around, though. We are now a nation consumed by an alarming level of polarization. The Democrat and the Republican split, the pro-war/anti-war camps, and the conservative versus liberal factions are a symptom of the deeper unrest and anxiety challenging our society.

Nonetheless, I believe in America as a great country for not only Muslims but people of all backgrounds and colors. Our nation’s greatness lies in the founding principles of pluralism, inclusion and equality for all.

Americans used to converse with each other. We used to dialogue. Now, we bicker. We compete in who can shout louder. We feel so threatened by the other side that we quickly attempt to silence it.

We must change our ways. We must make a concerted effort to change our un-American policies and attitudes. Otherwise, we will have allowed al-Qaida to redefine America, and not for the better.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the MercifulFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR CONDEMNS BIN LADEN’S PRAISE FOR 9/11 HIJACKER
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/11/07) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned a new video by Osama bin Laden in which the terror leader eulogizes a 9/11 hijacker.

In a statement, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said:

“The despicable actions of the 9/11 hijackers should be repudiated by all Muslims, not praised as examples to follow. There can be no moral, ethical or religious justification for such cowardly attacks on innocent civilians. CAIR joins with Americans of all faiths in mourning the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and asks that we all use today’s anniversary to enhance our efforts to repudiate religious extremism and to promote mutual understanding. ”

CAIR issued a joint American Muslim statement of condemnation within hours of the 9/11 attacks and published a similar statement in a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post just days later.

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 33 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Abukar Arman of Hilliard had a busy July: He cared for his four children, chaperoned Habitat for Humanity volunteers, lost his job and resigned from a Franklin County board.

He has spent most recent days denying that he is an Islamic extremist and terrorist sympathizer, and contending that fair-minded people would agree.

For the past few weeks, Arman — who served on the county’s Criminal Justice Planning Board — was under scrutiny by federal and local law enforcement.

“We did a background check and found no criminal or terrorist connections,” said county Administrator Don L. Brown. “Mr. Arman is not a person of interest.”

Before July 11, Arman was just another Somali immigrant. He taught in the Columbus Public Schools, but few at the Downtown headquarters recognized his name.

He has been a longtime volunteer on community boards, but several politicians didn’t know much about him.

They were about to learn.

Since mid-July, Arman has been the subject of three online articles at FrontPage Magazine. Edited by conservative David Horowitz, it claims 620,000 readers a month.

Arman said the articles misrepresent columns he wrote to further peace and understanding, using guilt by association to weave a tissue of suspicion.

He volunteers on the local suicide-prevention hot line but stands accused in the articles of supporting those who incite suicide bombers.

Freelance writer Patrick Poole, also of Hilliard, said his articles have exposed a terrorist-friendly network that is infiltrating central Ohio government and gaining the confidence of its leaders.

High in this plan, Poole argues, is Arman, a slight, soft-spoken 47-year-old who came to America in 1980 for an education.

Franklin County commissioners appointed Arman to the county’s Criminal Justice Planning Board in early 2005. That alarms Poole, who says that Arman, in his writings, has expressed support for the rule of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia and for Youseff Al-Qaradawi, designated as a global terrorist by the United States.

Arman counters that even U.S. government officials now are talking with the Islamic Courts Union, which, despite its harsh fundamentalist rule, did stop lawlessness for a time in Somalia. He says that his writings simply point out that Al-Qaradawi is viewed by many Muslims as a moderate.

After the articles ran, FrontPage readers started sending angry e-mails to Franklin County commissioners.

Poole notes the county Web site says that the criminal justice board oversees homeland security. County officials said that is an error: The board oversees justice grants and court programs, and handles no sensitive information.

Two commissioners, Marilyn Brown and Mary Jo Kilroy, didn’t respond to Poole. The third, Paula Brooks, sent an e-mail to Brown on July 12.

“Don, I expect this to be investigated expeditiously,” Brooks wrote. “If true, these allegations are definitely grounds for removal.”

Brooks said her wording was stronger than her intention. “In hindsight, I wish that I had used the term fact-finding,” she said.

The FrontPage articles have expanded to two other central Ohio residents: Ahmad Al-Akhras, national vice chairman of CAIR and a member of the Columbus Community Relations Commission; and Asma Mobin-Uddin, a pediatrician and president of the Ohio CAIR chapter.

Brooks said she would have asked for an investigation into Arman regardless of his ethnicity or religion. Arman is Arab, African and a Muslim.

“I don’t want to see someone falsely accused,” she said. “But my concern is for the safety and security of our community. I want the facts to be reviewed. I want to make sure we have people who support our government and our way of life working for Franklin County.”

Brown said he told commissioners of his findings. A written report, he said, “isn’t appropriate due to the nature of the inquiry.”

But Arman, CAIR and Poole all had hoped for written vindication.

“No, absolutely, I am not a sympathizer in any way, shape or form for terrorism,” Arman said. He said he began writing his columns to educate people on the Muslim viewpoint, hoping to further peace.

“Read my writings,” he begs.

Poole, who moved back to Hilliard in 2005, said he was stunned at a decade’s worth of changes in his hometown, including an influx of Muslim activists.

Poole previously worked for conservative Republican research groups, including the Free Congress Foundation. His writings question how three Democratic county commissioners could appoint Arman.

“The people we’ve elected and paid, they’ve really dropped the ball,” Poole said.

Poole said he’s not anti-Muslim; he lived with a Muslim family while working in Albania. But he said Arman and his friends aren’t typical of central Ohio’s Muslims.

Al-Akhras said Poole is part of a trend to discredit Muslims who “rise up and get accepted in the community. Some people feel threatened by this. We are seeing this across the country.”

Arman lost his teaching job last month. He blames the FrontPage campaign. But a district spokesman said Arman failed to recertify his state credentials and, meanwhile, the schools lost a grant for his position as an adult-education instructor.

As the county looked into his appointment to the justice planning board, it found a clear problem. Board members are required to be “citizens of the county.” Arman, who is not a U.S. citizen, resigned Friday.

“Mr. Arman is a man of the greatest integrity, kindness and responsibility,” Mobin-Uddin said.

She recalled a visit with Arman a few years ago to the home of an ex-Marine who displayed an anti-Muslim bumper sticker.

“We stood and talked with the man on his doorstep for an hour and a half. Mr. Arman never raised his voice. He told the man, ‘You know, sir, I have four children. I’ve lived in this country for decades. If I knew someone who was going to put a bomb somewhere, I would be the first one to jump on them.’ ”

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